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Hauptwerk software

Hauptwerk Basic / Advanced

There are three versions of Hauptwerk:Free, Basic and Advanced.
The differences are here gedetailed in a table.
Hauptwerk Basic is equal to Advanced only:
  • With the Basic version you can max load 3 GB (for Free version: 1.5 GB) with samples. Do you have a big sampleset (eg Kampen), you can with the Basic version only a part of the stops.
  • The polyphony (the amount of samples that can be played simultaneously, reverb counts also) is for Basic limited to 1024. For the big samplesets with a lot reverb (e.g. Kampen, Skinner, Zwolle, Metz) you need Hauptwerk Advanced when you want to play fast pieces with more than about 10-15 stops. Hint: Select for a 'tutti' only the most important principals, mixtures and reeds; don't select the more soft stops (strings and flutes).
  • No multi-channel audio output facilities.
  • No multi-monitor/multi-touchscreen support.
  • No user per-pipe real-time voicing facilities.
  • No wind supply model. You can easily hear the effect of the wind model on Chris Boss - Psalm 48 vers 6 Maestoso (recorded on Kampen Volume I).

Memory reduction for Samplesets

When you have less memory available than the sampleset requires, Hauptwerk gives the following possibilities to load samplesets in less memory. In the right order (loss of sound quality):
  1. Use loss-less compression (default configuration)
  2. Use '16 bit' i.s.o. '24 bit' (default configuration).
  3. Use 'single attack'.
  4. Use 'single loops' i.s.o. 'multiple loops'.
  5. Don't load all stops.
  6. Use '14 bit' i.s.o. '16 bit'.
  7. Use 'single release sample'.
  8. Use mono i.s.o. stereo.

Organ noises

A nice feature are the organ noises, which made the samplesets ultra realistic. Here you can hear the noises of the sampleset St. Georgenkirche - Silbermann. When you listen careful you can hear this noises:
  • Set wind motor on
  • Pull knobs
  • Tremulant motor
  • Key noise of pedal
  • Key noise of manual
It is possible to disable the organ noises.

Registration possibilities

You can choose the stops on different ways:
1. Mouse Technically the easiest one, but less handy when you will change your registration during playing.
2. Organ keys of highest octave Most of digital organs have manuals of 5 octaves. Old organs, as in the example picture the Georgenkirche Silbermann, have often 4 octaves. You can configure Hauptwerk (On Forum: Hauptwerk Midi Input Switch "toggle mode") so you use the highest octave for changing the registers. Of course is this also possible for the pedal. One of the disadvantages is that you see only on the monitor which stops are chosen.
3. Keyboard You can configure Hauptwerk to couple each register to a key on your keyboard. The square keyboard on the picture found the user on Ebay.
4. Launchpad You can also choose stops in Hauptwerk via a Launchpad.
In Hauptwerk it is possible to configure different colors for different stops.
See also: PCorgan forum: Launchpad alternatief voor Touchscreen
and: HW4 Launchpad Button LEDs.
5. iPad You can also choose stops in Hauptwerk via an iPad. To communicate with the PC (Mac os or Windows) you need TouchOSC Bridge. To create a layout you must install TouchOSC Editor on the Mac or Windows pc.
See also: PCorgan forum: Gert Jan S stelt zich voor
6. Register stops on digital organ or midi console Many new digital organs gave also midi signals for registration stops. In Hauptwerk, these can be coupled with the stops. The big disadvantage of this method is that you must change the names of the buttons when you load another sampleset. This can, for example, be solved with exchangeable name strips.
7. (Selfmade) pull knobs This is the most realistic one when you try to simulate a mechanical pipe organ. Mostly (or the organ must already have midi signals for the pull knobs) you should make the midi switches by yourself. The big disadvantage of this method is that you must change the names of the buttons when you load another sampleset. This can, for example, be solved with exchangeable name strips.
8. Touch screen In my opinion, the most ideal method for Hauptwerk, it is very flexible: When you load another sampleset, nothing is needed to change. For this feature, no configuration is needed in Hauptwerk, so it's technical very easy. The Touch screen must be solid mounted or have a robust stand else it wobbled when you touch registers with you fingers.

Playing / recording midi files

The input of Hauptwerk is midi, with:
  1. An organ/console via a midi-cable.
  2. A midi file (with extension .mid) via a software midi-cable.
With Hauptwerk 4 you can play and record midi files.

A midi file can contain 16 channels. It is not handy that there is no standardization for which channel is used for pedal and which for the manuals. Although you can change the channels in Hauptwerk (via General settings/MIDI input paths...), it is more handy to do this in the midi file. For that purpose you need a Midi sequencer. I don't know a free program that works also for Vista 64 bit. Tips are welcome!

Midi files for organ are on:
Sound Canvas Pipe Organ Project
klassieke-muziek-midi.startpagina.nl
J.S.Bach MIDI Orgel
MIDI-Organ.net
Classical Archives
Notation Software
Virtually Baroque

Voicing sample sets

Hauptwerk orgels vind ik het mooiste en meest realistisch via een hoofdtelefoon. Je hoort dan exact de akoestiek zoals die in de kerk is. Bij het luisteren via hoofdtelefoon (en opnemen van muziek) laat ik de set zoals hij is, dus zonder aanpassingen via 'Pipe and Rank Voicing'. Een hoofdtelefoon heeft echter een paar nadelen, o.a.: kans op gehoorbeschadiging en een ander kan niet meeluisteren. Als je via speakers speelt merk je al snel dat sommige samplesets in de huiskamer niet optimaal klinken, bijv.:
  • Resonantie bij een bepaalde toonhoogte (laagte). Om dit op te lossen kun je het volume voor dergelijke tonen verlagen.
  • Teveel nagalm. Het is mogelijk om de galm in te korten, dit gaat niet via 'Pipe and Rank Voicing', maar via 'Organ/Load organ, adjusting rank audio/memory options/routing', Release sample truncation:
  • Hoge of lage tonen zijn te nadrukkelijk aanwezig of afwezig.
  • Bepaalde registers vind je te hard of te zacht.
Met de Advanced versie van Hauptwerk is het mogelijk om bovengenoemde zaken aan te passen (Pipe and Rank Voicing). John Boersma heeft op zijn site een mooi stukje geschreven over het intoneren van Hauptwerk samplesets.
John mailde mij een voorbeeld (met toestemming overgenomen):
De Prestant 8' van het Radeker&Garrels-orgel van Anloo.
Kies Pipe and Rank Voicing en ga naar de 3e regel Overal: brightness (dB).
Bij het akkoord c1-e1-g1 zet je de quick-regelschuif iets hoger - van de middenstand naar het eerste streepje - en je hoort hoe de klanken gaan zingen. De boventoonverhouding is toegenomen.
Voor de goede balans zet je quick-regelschuif aan de andere kant (bij de b-toets) evenveel naar boven. Mocht één toon iets te veel of te weinig toenemen, dan kun je die met de eigen schuif aanpassen. De overgang naar het klein octaaf links en het twee-gestreept octaaf rechts van het gecorrigeerde octaaf is nu hoorbaar en daarom ga je ook die octaven meer helderheid geven.
Op die manier heb ik van een iets te doffe prestant een mooie zangerige prestantklank gemaakt. Het is een feest op deze Prestant te spelen.
Valt het je tegen, dan druk je op reset en alles staat weer in de beginstand.
Om de verbetering vast te houden ga je nu eerst naar File: Save any unsaved settings changings en vertrouw niet op de term daarachter: Hauptwerk auto-saves anyway.
Vind je de volumes niet in de goede verhouding tot de fluiten, dan kun je dat aanpassen met Pipe and Rank Voicing en ga naar de 1e regel Overal: amplitude.

De intonatie van de Zöblitz-Prestant heb ik iets minder verhoogd; deze Prestant is al zangrijk.
Het volume van de Roerfluit 8' moet wel flink verhoogd worden, maar daar heb je houvast aan de Roerfluit 4' van het bovenklavier. De Spitzflöte 4' kan wel wat meer helderheid gebruiken, dan wordt het een prachtige karakteristieke stem.
Ik heb die pijpen gezien, allemaal ingekort en nu weer verlengd met een klemring.
Van de oorspronkelijke klank is niet veel meer over.

Zie voor meer info over intoneren van Hauptwerk samplesets: Intoneren van Hauptwerk klanken
en enigszins gerelateerd: Sonus Paradisi: Placing Virtual Organ in Church.
en PCorgan forum: Intoneren Hauptwerk sample sets

Tips

Hauptwerk 4: Connect General Volume to Swell pedal

In Hauptwerk 4 it is possible to connect the General Volume to the swell pedal of your console (when it send midi-signals).
  1. Open the screen 'Audio, MIDI and Performance'
  2. Click with right mouse button on the master volume button (with red arrow).
  3. Choose the first option in the menu and press the whole swell pedal.
  4. Click on 'Done'.


Hauptwerk 4: General Preferences

I configured my 'General Preferences':




Audio configuration for Surround

I have 3 pears of speakers, so I created 'output groups':


Further I created 4 'Audio Outputs', one for mixing the chanels for recordings and head phone:














I don't mix the 'Rear channel' for recordings:



Here my configuration of Patchmix, the software that belongs an EMU soundcart. I have two configurations:
  1. For speakers. I couple the three channels defined in Hauptwerk to the three stereo outputs of the EMU.
    The 'Main Volume slider' doesn't work, so I added three 'Trimpots'.
  2. For headphone. I mix all three channels together in Patchmix.
    The 'Main Volume slider' is usable now.

Latency (delay between pressing a key and hear the sound)

Do you have a high latency? This can be caused by:
  1. The buffer size is too high. Adjust in "General settings | Audio outputs" the buffer size so low as possible, without distortion, for me it is 0384 (9 ms for 44.1 kHz).

  2. You don't use the correct audio drivers, use for example: ASIO4ALL.

  3. The sound card / midi interface is not fast.

Use the three highest keys for pushing combination presets

Fast registration can be a problem in Hauptwerk, because of that I found below mentioned solution.

A lot of electronic organs have 5 full octaves. Mostly of the Hauptwerk samplesets have a smaller compass. I use the highest 3 keys (on the swell keyboard) to activate the first 3 'combination presets'. So it's possible to do fast registration changes during playing a piece.

Photo Screensaver

Every evening I play organ as well, but obviously not the whole evening. Because the main drawback of Hauptwerk (it takes 1 minute to start your computer and 2 minutes to load a sampleset) I switch my organ (computer) not always off. Although a TFT screen can not burn (I've heard of a specialist), I installed a screensaver that shows pictures. Of the hundreds (or thousands) of digital pictures we have made in recent years I have picked the 150 best. At first I just used the 'default photo screensaver' of Vista, with the following disadvantages:
  • It doesn't work on two screens.
  • Uses a lot of RAM memory.
  • The pictures are relative short showed, also when you configure it to 'slow'.
That's the reason why I use Random Photo Screensaver. I configured 15 seconds per photo, without animations, without clock, black background (only used when picture doesn't have the same ratio as the screen), without title, you see only the picture in full screen mode. Now there are two different pictures on both screens.

Hauptwerk - Digital organ

Advantages Hauptwerk
  • Sound is much more realistic, with many samplesets, you can not hear if a recording was made in the church or via Hauptwerk.
  • The reverb is very realistic because it is recorded in the church.
  • Flexibility, you can easily purchase or download (for free) new organs.
  • You can create CD-quality recordings and you can not hear whether it is recorded in the church or via Hauptwerk.
Disadvantages Hauptwerk
  • If the computer still has to turn on, it takes about 2 minutes before you can play (due to stat Windows and load sampleset).
  • Because it uses computer and software it is more sensitive for failures (and more maintenance sensitive) than a digital organ.
  • The danger of 'always want more and more' (samplesets, equipment) is strong. Hint: Don't visit this site anymore.
Advantages Digital Organ
  • If you turn it on, you can play immediately.
  • Less susceptible to interference and maintenance sensitive than Hauptwerk, most digital organs work without any maintenance for at least 10 years.
  • More robust (for children).
Disadvantages Digital Organ
  • Sound is much less realistic, even with the best known brands you can hear that it is not a real organ.
  • The reverberation is less realistic.
  • A digital organ contains one or more 'sample banks' and which are not (or restricted) extendable.
Summary:
  • Is (realistic) sound quality the most important: choose Hauptwerk.
  • Is user-friendly and stability the most important for you: choose a digital organ.
Price
It is very difficult to do a price comparison between a digital organ and a Hauptwerk installation because the sound quality is so different.
With Hauptwerk you have also the phenomenon that the sound quality is not affected by the organ console.
With other words: Whether you use a midi keyboard of $99 for Hauptwerk or a four-manual Monarke organ, this doesn't matter for the sound quality. The sound quality of Hauptwerk is dependent on:

History Hauptwerk

Martin Dyde, the developer of van Hauptwerk, wrote (source: M. Dyde FAQ?):
  • I used to have lessons on the organ at school and have always loved organ music (of all types and genres).
  • I worked as an Oracle and C++ senior programmer and technical consultant in a medium-sized software development company in Birmingham for a number of years prior to Hauptwerk.
  • I started work on Hauptwerk v1 and St. Anne's in 2001, in my own spare time, mainly for my own benefit since I wanted to take up practising the organ again.
  • I released it publicly in 2002 and was pleasantly surprised to find so much interest in it.
  • In 2003 I started work on Hauptwerk v2, which was redesigned from scratch, concentrating on making it as realistic and powerful as possible on then-current computer hardware, still in my spare time.
  • In 2004 I left my previous job to concentrate on getting Hauptwerk v2 finished (which was a risk since v1 didn't make enough money to live on).
  • Hauptwerk v2 was finished and released at the start of 2006, as a product of Crumhorn Labs Ltd, which I formed in 2005 for the purpose.
  • That was fortunately well-received and did well (although with hindsight its MIDI settings were overly-technical, which many people found difficult).
  • V3 was released late 2007.
  • Late 2008 I sold Crumhorn Labs and Hauptwerk to Milan Digital Audio, for whom I now develop the software, so that I could try to concentrate more on programming, rather than so much on day-to-day support and running a business.
  • V4 was released about a month ago, and I'm very pleased with it indeed - in general I think we've really managed to get the balance right now in terms of realism, functionality, flexibility and ease of use.
  • Despite originally developing Hauptwerk v1 so as to be able to practice with it, the past 10 years have been very, very hard work (long hours, almost 365 days/years, although I did manage to get a week off last year for the first time in many years, which was lovely!), but that's just the nature of making and supporting a product to a high standard and making it succeed. Hence I never really did get any time to practice on Hauptwerk after all (apart from briefly when testing features or trying to help with customer issues, etc.), but the satisfaction in having produced v4, and in having hopefully brought a lot of pleasure to people, and in having hopefully made a real and positive contribution to the organ world, more than makes up for that.
  • Hauptwerk's written in C++/C using the Qt multi-platform (GUI) libraries.
  • In Augustus 2012 the team of Milan Digital Audio team (Brett Milan, Martin Dyde) is extended with Rob Stefanussen (the developer of contrebombarde.com).

Step plan

  1. Buy the requirements: Midi Console (digital organ, keyboard or selfmade), Computer, Midi interface / Sound card (with midi cable) and Audio (e.g. head phone).
  2. Connect Midi cable between Computer and Midi Console.
  3. Connect head phone or speakers to sound card.
  4. Download Hauptwerk software from Hauptwerk downloads.
  5. Install Hauptwerk (see Hauptwerk User Guide).
  6. Download free trial sampleset Smecno from Smecno.
  7. Install free sampleset. Start Hauptwerk, choose 'File','Install organ, sampleset, temperament or impulse resonsponse...'.
  8. Load the sampleset. Start Hauptwerk, choose 'Organ','Load organ...', don't change options but click on 'OK'.
  9. Select the Holpijp 8. Try if you hear sound when click with the mouse on the organ manual on the screen. When that's not the case change then options in the 'General Settings','Audio outputs...' screen.
  10. Play on your organ, look on the screen if the buttons are pushed. When that's not the case than probably there is something wrong with the midi input settings. ('General Settings','General Options...' or 'Midi input paths...').
See the details on: Hauptwerk User Guide

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